Astronomer writes research report as a ‘Doctor Who’ story

An astronomer has taken her research on a major cosmic phenomenon and written it up as a short story starring the characters of Doctor Who.

Megan Argo observed a powerful jet of energy resulting from an exploding star in a distant galaxy. Her research will appear in the Jan. 28 edition of the journal Nature — but to introduce the concept to a more general audience, she decided to use the popular British sci-fi saga.

“I’ve been a Doctor Who fan since I was a child. It was partially to blame for me becoming a scientist. I first came across an concept called entropy in a Doctor Who story called Logopolis and remember being fascinated, even though it was some ten years before it was ever mentioned in a physics lesson.” the Cheshire resident told Skymania News, as reported by Scientific American.

1981’s Logopolis was longtime Doctor Who star Tom Baker’s final appearance in the series, and the culmination of an entire season that explored the concept of entropy.

You can read the story by Argo, titled Doctor Who and the Silver Spiral, and even hear her narrate the tale at the astronomer’s personal blog.